1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to railroad braking system slack adjusters and, more particularly, to a slack adjuster having a single housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Slack adjusters are provided in the brake rigging of railway vehicles to automatically adjust the slack in the brake rigging to maintain the brake cylinder piston rod travel within a specified distance. Brake cylinder piston rod travel is important for proper balancing of the fluid pressure in the brake cylinder so that all brakes on a train operate under the same conditions and timing and to ensure the substantially uniform braking forces are applied to each set of wheels on each car in the train. Conventional slack adjusters employ two separate housings for separately enclosing an overtravel assembly and a tension spring assembly that are then coupled together by a third housing, often referred to as a coupling body, which houses the clutch assembly for ratcheting the tension rod and adjusting the length of the slack adjuster. Accordingly, there is a need for a slack adjusting having a single housing to reduce the number of housings and connections required to make the slack adjuster.